Building a skyscraper a few miles away from a major international airport sounds like a project that needs careful calibration—such as making it easy for aircraft to see and avoid.
Instead Incheon will be getting the first high-rise that can go into stealth mode.
GDS Architects announced last week that the South Korean government approved its plan for a building equipped with light-emitting diodes and cameras that allow it to mimic the skies behind it, tricking the eyes into believing it has disappeared into thin air. Computer-generated pictures and video clips of the glass tower slowly blending into a blue sky dotted with clouds sent ripples of excitement around the Web.
- GDS Architects
- Oh, there it is. By night (and from above), City Tower should be easy enough to spot.
GDS, based in Pasadena, Calif., calls the 450-meter (1,476-foot), fountain-pen-shaped structure “Tower Infinity,” but it’s officially referred to as the City Tower. Planned as the centerpiece of the waterfront development in Incheon’s Cheongna district—about 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Seoul and half that distance east of the country’s main air hub—it won land ministry approval last month.
The project’s state-owned backer, Korea Land & Housing Corp., denied Friday that the structure could pose a risk to air traffic, and played down its disappearing trick.
The optical illusion works only during certain hours of the day and from certain angles, said Kim Hee-jae, who is in charge of the tower’s architectural planning at Korea Land & Housing. The electric lights shining from inside the building will provide a further limit to its stealth, especially at night.
“It’s a building with a glass exterior like most other ordinary new buildings these days,” said Mr. Kim.
The technology hasn’t yet been officially certified, Mr. Kim said. If the tests prove successful, the invisibility trick would be showcased only during brief periods at specific hours. Even then, the buildings red aircraft warning lights would have to be on—as at all hours—guiding pilots away.
Construction is on hold and without a deadline, Mr. Kim said, while the search continues for private investors to fund a portion of the project.
